--- title: When Will We Know the Results of the Midterm Elections? description: Election Day is underway, but it could be days, or even weeks, before it becomes clear which party will control Congress. canonical: https://time.com/article/2026/11/03/2026-midterm-elections-polls-close-results-when/ author: Connor Greene article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2026-11-03T22:09:50.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-11-03T23:03:10.155Z article:section: Politics og:title: When Will We Know the Results of the Midterm Elections? og:description: Election Day is underway, but it could be days, or even weeks, before it becomes clear which party will control Congress. og:url: https://time.com/article/2026/11/03/2026-midterm-elections-polls-close-results-when/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbee0e5fff249b677/6aea597a42f7b11fb4c5070b/GettyImages-2303302083.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: GettyImages-2303302083.jpg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: When Will We Know the Results of the Midterm Elections? twitter:description: Election Day is underway, but it could be days, or even weeks, before it becomes clear which party will control Congress. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbee0e5fff249b677/6aea597a42f7b11fb4c5070b/GettyImages-2303302083.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # When Will We Know the Results of the Midterm Elections? > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=e44f87be-bec4-4767-90c9-c08ba9737c77&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: ‘We Gave This a Very Strong Shot’: Trump Delivers Closing Appeal Before the Midterms [Watch (HLS stream): ‘We Gave This a Very Strong Shot’: Trump Delivers Closing Appeal Before the Midterms](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/I8XDtlvY.m3u8) (1:13)  _Published 2026-11-03. Election Day is underway, but it could be days, or even weeks, before it becomes clear which party will control Congress._ by [Connor Greene](https://time.com/author/connor-greene/) ## Connor Greene Reporter Nov 3, 2026 10:09 PM UTC by [Connor Greene](https://time.com/author/connor-greene/) ## Connor Greene Reporter Nov 3, 2026 10:09 PM UTC Listen 00:001.0x09:12 Narrated by TIME AI. [Election Day](https://time.com/article/2026/11/03/midterm-elections-2026-key-races-live-results-polls-latest-news-updates/) is underway, with tens of millions of voters heading to the polls around the U.S. But it could be days, or even weeks, before it becomes clear which party will control each chamber of [Congress](https://time.com/article/2026/10/30/the-key-congressional-races-to-watch-on-election-night/) for the remainder of [President Donald Trump’s](https://time.com/article/2026/11/01/trump-administration-officials-midterm-elections-hatch-act/) second term. [Some races](https://time.com/article/2026/10/27/midterm-elections-early-voting-data-democrats-republicans-hispanic-voters/) are likely to be called on Tuesday night, while in other, tighter contests it could take multiple days—if not longer—to determine a winner. It all boils down to the states, which the U.S. Constitution empowers to establish the times, places, and manners of holding elections and counting ballots. Certain states are known for having shorter count times, such as Florida. Others typically take longer, like California, due to its size, and Alaska, where ranked-choice voting can make the process of certifying votes more complicated. “There are all these differences, both in process and deadlines, and geography, and who the voters are, and who the candidates are, that make a difference in what this looks like,” Mitchell Brown, a professor of political science at Auburn University and the author of “How We Vote: Innovations in American Elections,” tells TIME. **Read more:** [_The Key Congressional Races to Watch on Election Night_](https://time.com/article/2026/10/30/the-key-congressional-races-to-watch-on-election-night/) Mitchell says that it could take up to 30 days before all the states certify their results. She stresses that official midterm results released by the states themselves are different from projections from media outlets, which will call races sooner. “It's really important for everyone to understand that what happens on election night when we're watching TV or looking online, and we're seeing races called, those are predictions by media outlets. They're not the official results,” adds Chris Mann, the research director at The Center for Election Innovation & Research. “With close elections, we may end up not knowing who the winner is until we get to those official certifications that every vote has been counted.” Here’s what to know about how the midterm votes will be tabulated, and when we are likely to know the results. ## When do the polls close? Polls open and close at varying times in different states around the country, with most closing their polls around 7 p.m. or 8 p.m. local time. Because the U.S. is divided across several time zones, however, those closures are spread over several hours on Election Day. And in some cases closing times vary even between different parts of the same state. Here is when the latest polls close in each of the 50 states and Washington, D.C., in Eastern Standard Time. _7 p.m._ _EST_: Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, Vermont, and Virginia. _7:30 p.m. EST_: Ohio and West Virginia. North Carolina also typically closes its final polls at this time, but due to minor technical issues reported in some localities on Tuesday—which have since been resolved—the state’s board of elections has [extended voting hours](https://www.ncsbe.gov/news/press-releases/2026/11/03/state-board-extends-voting-5-precincts-4-counties) in some precincts. _8 p.m. EST_: Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and Washington, D.C. In Pennsylvania, most polling sites will close at 8 p.m., but in [three precincts](https://www.chesco.org/156/Voter-Services?os=ioxa42gdub5U1ENqic) they will stay open for an additional half hour “due to machine set-up issues” that delayed the opening of those polls this morning, according to Chester County officials. **Read more:** [_The 7 Key Governor Races to Watch in the Midterm Elections_](https://time.com/article/2026/10/21/governor-races-to-watch-in-the-midterms/) _8:30 p.m. EST:_ Arkansas. _9 p.m. EST_: Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. _10 p.m. EST_: Montana, Nevada, and Utah. _11 p.m. EST_: California, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington state. _Midnight_ _EST_: Hawaii. _1 a.m. EST_: Alaska ## How are ballots counted? After their respective polls close, states must verify and count ballots that were cast in various ways, including those made in person during the early voting period and on Election Day, mail-in ballots, and provisional ballots. Depending on the state, ballots are either counted right at voting locations, or transported back to county counting facilities. Mann says these facilities are like warehouses containing machines that can quickly and accurately count votes. **Read more:**[_8 Senate Races the Forecasters Can’t Agree On_](https://time.com/article/2026/11/03/us-election-midterms-forecasters-analysis-senate-race-ratings/) Provisional ballots allow people to vote who fail to meet certain eligibility requirements that can later be verified. If, for example, someone arrives at a polling site and does not have their ID, they may be able to vote through a provisional ballot that can then be counted if and when they have verified their identity. Brown says the process of confirming provisional ballots is called “curing” and can add additional time to the tallying process. Fourteen states and Washington D.C. also allow ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted if they are received during a set post-election window, which can also add delays to final vote counts. ## Why does it take longer to get results from some states than others? It will take significantly longer for the results of the election to be officially tabulated—or even projected by media outlets—in some states than in others. When it comes to the media calling races, projections may take longer to come in cases when races are tight, and the winner does not become clear until nearly all the votes are counted. “If there is a high margin of victory, they can make that projection sooner,” Wren Orey, who runs the Elections Project at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a policy think tank, tells TIME. “Whenever there's a very narrow margin of victory, that means that election officials need to process and report more results before a media outlet can be confident projecting a winner.” In terms of the actual process of states counting votes, meanwhile, differences in speed can boil down to physical factors, such as the distance ballots must be transported before being counted. In states such as Alaska, for instance, vast and rural territories create delays for counting ballots. “There are sometimes ballots being flown back to Anchorage in order to be processed,” says Orey. They add that some states may also simply have more infrastructure to count ballots, including more machines, employees, and counting locations. State laws governing how votes are cast and counted can also play a role in the timeline of election results. Alaska and Maine, for example, use ranked-choice voting, a process in which voters rank their top candidates instead of choosing one person for a position. Mann describes this method as a “more complicated process” in tight races, where ballots may need to be recounted due to one candidate not receiving an outright majority in the first or even subsequent rounds of counting. “If no candidate has a majority on that first count, then they drop the candidate with the lowest number of votes, and they go through it again,” Mann explains. **Read more:** [_12 House Races That Forecasters See Going Different Ways_](https://time.com/article/2026/11/03/us-election-midterms-forecasters-analysis-house-race-ratings/) Other states, like Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, prohibit preparing mailed ballots for scanning until Election Day. “Those are two of several states that don't start this process until the morning of Election Day, and they will have hundreds of thousands of ballots,” to prepare to be counted while running the polls at the same time, Mann says. ## Fraud is extremely rare The process of confirming election results taking days or weeks, Mitchell says, is completely standard, and is not an indication of election fraud, which research and state audits have consistently shown to be extraordinarily rare. “The thing that I would hammer home is not knowing an official result the day of the election, the day after the election, even a week after the election, is not evidence of fraud,” says Mitchell. “And to say so is to misconstrue and manipulate people.” **Read More**: [_Trump Claims Mail-In Voting Is ‘Corrupt.’ But Research Indicates Fraud Is Very, Very Rare_](https://time.com/article/2026/03/20/mail-voting-absentee-voter-fraud-trump-claims-research/?utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com) “\[Fraud\] is extremely rare … Elections are more secure, more accurate than they have ever been,” adds Mann. “Election officials and your friends and neighbors who are out working the polls are working incredibly hard. They are very dedicated to make sure the election is safe, secure, accurate.” ## Transcript [00:00] As you know, this is [00:01] the last day before the midterm elections, [00:03] the most important midterm, [00:05] I believe in our lifetime. [00:06] The Democrat Party has nominated [00:09] the most extreme and dangerous slate [00:12] of candidates in American history. [00:14] These are the most dangerous candidates ever. [00:17] Put up with your vote. [00:19] We will decide these extremists [00:22] will be given power or not. [00:25] Power will either keep America strong. [00:29] I think we're having this is the golden age of America. [00:32] We've never done anything like it. [00:33] But we have to keep our Congress strong, free. [00:38] A little bit of apple pie is [00:40] something very nice about that. [00:41] If the people that voted for me and [00:44] voted in the last election [00:46] where we had such a great victory, [00:48] if they go out and vote just a good portion of them, [00:51] we will win in a landslide. [00:53] Now, that doesn't happen because usually whoever [00:56] the sitting president is Republican or Democrat, [01:00] good or bad, good president, great president, [01:03] bad for some reason [01:06] the sitting president doesn't win the midterms. [01:08] But we gave this a very strong shot. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/11/03/2026-midterm-elections-polls-close-results-when/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/11/03/2026-midterm-elections-polls-close-results-when/"},"headline":"When Will We Know the Results of the Midterm Elections?","datePublished":"2026-11-03T22:09:50.000Z","dateModified":"2026-11-03T23:03:10.155Z","description":"Election Day is underway, but it could be days, or even weeks, before it becomes clear which party will control Congress.","url":"https://time.com/article/2026/11/03/2026-midterm-elections-polls-close-results-when/","keywords":["Midterm Elections","News Desk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbee0e5fff249b677/6aea597a42f7b11fb4c5070b/GettyImages-2303302083.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Connor Greene","jobTitle":"Reporter","url":"https://time.com/author/connor-greene/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbee0e5fff249b677/6aea597a42f7b11fb4c5070b/GettyImages-2303302083.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"GettyImages-2303302083.jpg","caption":"","creditText":"Joe Raedle—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/midterm-elections/","name":"Midterm Elections"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/11/03/2026-midterm-elections-polls-close-results-when/","name":"When Will We Know the Results of the Midterm Elections?"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"‘We Gave This a Very Strong Shot’: Trump Delivers Closing Appeal Before the Midterms","description":"Election Day is underway, but it could be days, or even weeks, before it becomes clear which party will control Congress.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/I8XDtlvY/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2026-11-03T18:21:46.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/I8XDtlvY.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/article/2026/11/03/2026-midterm-elections-polls-close-results-when/","duration":"PT1M13S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/article/2026/11/03/2026-midterm-elections-polls-close-results-when/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```